


Where the Monsters are

by Brevity (AmosLee1023)



Category: Silent Hill (Video Game Series)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gay Sex, M/M, Monsters, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Silent Hill: Homecoming - Freeform, Slow Burn, Survival Horror, Tags, Tags Are Hard, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-28
Updated: 2018-09-10
Packaged: 2019-05-14 07:30:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14765255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmosLee1023/pseuds/Brevity
Summary: Alex and Joshua run away from Shepherd's Glen to a place they'll never be found. Silent Hill. Little do they know the monsters that lurk there, or the people.





	1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One:**

Alex woke Joshua by nudging the teen's shoulder. It took a few shakes, but Joshua sat up after a moment, having fallen asleep after eating his desert. They'd stopped at a cafe to eat, but the long ride was exhausting. Joshua didn't know how Alex was still awake- he was the one driving.

"Is it time to go?" the teen asked. Alex nodded, his grey-brown eyes looking assaulted by the need to sleep. The older man motioned.

"Come on, lets go." He stood up from the table and Joshua willed himself to follow suit. Alex pulled out his wallet and dropped some bills on the table; for the coffee and cherry pie they had eaten. Then the two started making their leave down the tile flooring.

It was the afternoon, so the cafe was a little crowded. There was laughter and chattering, but Alex and Joshua were dead compared to the other patrons. Joshua was thin and pale and looked at everyone with an all-seeing gaze that made them uncomfortable, and Alex was gruff and self reserved and didn't look at anyone.

The two walked out to Alex's pickup truck and clambered inside. Joshua sank into his seat and Alex dropped into his like it were a bed. They both let out big, tired breaths. Joshua looked at his brother.

"When are we gonna be there?" he asked weakly, like he was hurt. He just wanted to sleep in an actual bed, though. His older brother just shook his head, staring out of the windshield.

"I don't know."

"You said we'd be there  _yesterday_ , Alex!"

"I know!" Alex narrowed his eyes at his younger brother, sitting up in his seat to start the truck since his moment to rest had been spurned. Joshua crossed his arms and looked out the passenger's window, frowning at being yelled at. Alex shook his head again and pulled them into the road.

They were in some small town, just a pit stop for truckers. It didn't take long to get out of there, but once they did, they were on a lonely highway that showed no chances of a motel for them to catch some sleep in. Alex had to struggle to stay awake while Joshua napped with his head against his window. It was only two p.m.

They were headed for Silent Hill. Shepherd's Glen was tiring and dying off. They had no friends there. The only person Alex had was Elle, but he didn't want to live like that. With his dad judging him for having a single girl for a friend. That was it. He was being judged. Everyone in town would whisper about him.  _"Did you hear he just got back from the military?" "I heard it was a dishonorable discharge." "I heard he needs medicine for his head- he has that trauma thing." "What a shame, poor Adam and Lillith." "He's such a waste of space." "What a disgrace- dishonorable discharge_ and _mental basket case."_  He gripped the steering wheel tight. What the fuck did any of them know? What right did they have to judge him? After all he had done for them!

Red and blue lights flashed in the corner of his eye and he looked in his mirrors. A police cruiser was flagging them down. It seemed to wake up Joshua, because the teenager sat up and was looking back in his seat.

"...What do we do?" he asked. Alex scoffed under his breath.

"Nothing."

"But-"

"Do you want to go back home? To Mom and Dad?"

"Well no, but-"

Alex stepped harder on the gas and the old truck complained. Joshua looked at his brother.

"Okay, I think you should pull over."

"What? Fuck that, Joshua- I haven't even done anything wrong."

"I don't want you to get in trouble!"

"You're going to  _get_  me in trouble!"

"Alex!"

"Joshua, I'm not-" Alex suddenly found a figure standing in the middle of the road. With their back to the truck, they turned slightly to look at the speeding vehicle. It was a young man, and his eyes seemed to stare right into Alex's.

Alex swerved the car.

l.l

When Alex opened his eyes, there was a throbbing pressure building in his head. He turned his head to look at Joshua and saw that the teen was knocked out; there was a strip of blood down his face, but it seemed to be dripping the other way- his hair told Alex that they were flipped upside down in the truck. He swallowed audibly and brought his hands up to his lap to try and unbuckle his seat belt. Once he clicked the button, the belt snapped away and the man fell onto his neck on the roof. He let out a hiss of pain and rolled onto his back, where he rest for a moment before looking at Joshua. His brother was still pinned.

"Joshua," he tried waking him up. "Wake up, bud."

Joshua fluttered his eyes open and squinted at Alex, confusion staining his eyes. "What..."

"We flipped over," Alex rolled onto his knees. "Can you unbuckle yourself?"

Joshua's eyes widened and he stared at Alex. "We crashed?"

Alex simply nodded. "Yeah. Come on, we gotta get out."

Joshua pressed his lips together and tried unbuckling himself. He couldn't. He looked back at Alex. "I'm stuck."

Alex sighed and reached out to try it himself. The seat belt was locked up. He looked up in the upside-down truck and reached up to open the glove box, where his survival knife tumbled out. It cut along his hand as it fell but he didn't pay it mind and gripped the blade by the handle. He looked at Joshua's worried face. "I'm gonna cut you free, so don't move," he said. Joshua whined in his throat but that was all. He stayed still as his brother started cutting the belt. When Joshua was free, he fell, but Alex caught him the best he could while wielding a blade. He caught his brother's shoulders and lay him down easy on the roof. The teen groaned.

"What happened?" he asked. Alex shook his head.

"There was a person..." The man turned and opened his door, kicking it open when it got stuck. He crawled out and stood up outside before looking around. Where was the cop? Where did they go? There was no police cruiser in sight, or the person who had been in the road. There was, though, fog. So much fog that he couldn't see more than a few feet in front of him.

"Whoa," Joshua said when he met his brother outside of the truck. "What happened to the sun?" That was a good question. Where was the sun? It was dark out, the sky dull and empty. Alex swallowed again, his throat bobbing. He glanced at Joshua and waved him over.

"Come on."

"Come  _where_? We just crashed the truck!"

"We're hitchhiking to the next town."

"But what about the cop!"

"Josh. Come on." Alex stuck his blade into his boot and started walking off down the empty road. Joshua followed when he almost lost his brother in the fog.

Alex was upset and confused. That truck was all of his savings and he was still making payments. Where was the man from the road? Who would stand in the middle of the road while someone was being flagged down by a police officer? Ugh, it made Alex fume.

When fifteen minutes of walking rolled by, Joshua finally caught glimpse of something; a sign. He pointed. "What's that?"

Alex looked, but they were too far to see what it said because of the fog. The man broke into a light jog to get closer, stopping when he could finally read it. WELCOME TO SILENT HILL.

"We're here," Joshua said, walking up to his brother. He looked at the man, who nodded.

"...We can see if there's a garage here."

"And use what money?"

"None. They'll tow the truck into town and I'll talk to them about repairs."

Joshua twisted his lips and grabbed his brother's arm, making the older brunette look at him. "We left our bags," he said. Alex sighed and shook his head.

"Yeah, we did. We'll get them when the truck gets towed in; you need to clean up first."

"Clean up?"

"You must have hit your head," Alex motioned to the blood on Joshua's face and the teen touched it, looking at his fingers. He looked back to his brother.

"Is it bad?"

"No, I don't think so. Come on."

The two walked passed the sign and into town. They had never been there themselves, but their dad would go annually to help the police department.

There were no people. There were cars parked on the side of the road, but they were void of occupants. There were houses, but Alex could assume just by looking at them that no one was home.

Joshua stayed close at his brother's side. "...There's something wrong here," he said. Alex didn't look at him, continuing down the street and looking for any townsfolk. Two minutes of silence later and Joshua could see faint figures in the fog ahead of them. As they got closer, he could see that it was a group of dogs munching on something. The teen grabbed his brother's arm and pointed. "Look there."

Alex looked and furrowed his eyebrows. "...What are they eat-" He saw it. Two dogs fought over an arm; a human arm. Joshua seemed to realize too, at that point, because he gasped. The empty town carried his breath and threw it to the dogs like a plate of scraps. Three of them looked over. Joshua looked at Alex, who was already looking at his younger brother.

"Run," the man said. Joshua took off running, Alex just behind him All of the dogs took off after the two, their loud snarls and barking echoing in the town.

"Where do we go?" Joshua looked back at his brother. The older brunette didn't get to answer him, because the teenager tripped while not watching his own feet. He tumbled onto the pavement of the road, scraping his elbow. Alex came to a stop behind Joshua and looked back at the dogs. Just in time, too, because one of them had gotten ahead and leaped at Alex just as he turned around. The man quickly caught the dog and threw it to the side, getting a long scratch down his arm when it tried to grab him.

There was something wrong with the dogs. Alex looked at his hands after he threw the dog and they were bloody. He looked at the rest of the pack, who all stopped to growl and snarl at the brothers, planning their group attack. They were skinless. They had been  _skinned_.

"What's wrong with them?" Joshua cried. Alex took a step back, closer to his brother who lay scared on the road. He couldn't answer him. He didn't know.

The dogs started lunging for them, but just as the leader got close, a giant gunshot took off its head. Alex and Joshua looked at where the shot had come from. The dogs didn't waste time. They turned and ran at a figure approaching through the fog, snarling and lunging but being shot down. It must have been a shotgun, because the shots were slow to start but each one either killed the dogs or knocked them back a bit.

The last dog of the group leaped, but the shotgun flew threw the air and slapped it down into the ground. The tip of the gun pressed against the dog's head and a shot blew it into pieces.

Joshua had started getting up during the action, eyes wide, and Alex tried to see the person's face. As the figure emerged fully from the fog, it became evident that they were... beautiful. They had blonde hair that looked ashy in the dull, foggy town, and they were naturally thin, their bones jutting in an unhealthy but healthy sort of way. As they got closer, Alex could see that their skin was light and fair. And then their eyes met Alex's grey-brown.

It was the person from the road during the police chase.

A loud snarl cut through the air and a dog lunged out from the fog, snapping its teeth around the stranger's leg like a shark. It was the first dog, that Alex had thrown to the side. The blonde cried out in pain at the sudden attack and started slamming the butt of their gun against the dog's head; it got angrier and started shaking its head like it had a chew toy, burying its teeth further into the stranger's flesh, trying to tear their leg off.

"Alex, help him!" Joshua cried from behind his brother, clinging to the man's back. The older brunette looked back at the teen.

"With wh-" He suddenly remembered his knife and bent down to pull it from his boot. Getting back up, he he had to hop over a dog's corpse to reach the lone survivor. The stranger tried again to get the dog off by hitting it, but it was to no avail. Alex rose his blade and brought it down against the dog, the strong steel crunching into its skull and slipping inside until it met the dog's brain. It seemed to kill it. The bloody canine hung limply by its teeth, the sharp razors still buried in the stranger's leg. Alex pulled his knife out with some difficulty and grabbed the dog's head to pull it off of the blonde's leg. They cried out in pain and fell onto their butt on the street.

"Here," Alex held a hand out to the blonde. He got the end of the shotgun shoved into his face instead.

"Alex!" Joshua ran over, stopping a few feet away to be out of the line of fire, but still concerned for his brother's well-being. Alex looking at the teen.

"It's okay," he said to him before looking back at the blonde. They breathed heavily through their nose, sweat beading on their face and their cheeks flushed, probably from the pain and struggle of trying to get the dog off. The glassiness of their glaring eyes was no tell tale sign that they were in pain. The bold glared at Alex with a deadly intent.

"We just want to help," Alex said. The blonde held his gun with steady hands.

"I don't need help." His voice was harsh but quiet and soft, like he hadn't spoken in a long time. It sounded like he had been hit in the throat.

"You do. You're bleeding."

The blonde looked down at their leg, where the blood was spilling over and gushing out of the wound, filling their dark jeans in an what would be a tough stain to get out. The dog had probably chewed through an artery. The blonde looked back up at Alex with what looked to be perfect, bright green eyes. From the close proximity, Alex could note that they had some light freckles speckled across their face, like the faintest of stars.

Not more than a second later, the blonde pulled his gun away from Alex's face and held up his other hand for help. He probably knew he wouldn't last long otherwise. Alex took their slender hand and pulled them up, and they were lighter than he'd expected.

"What were those?" Alex asked the blonde. They stood on their own but fell against Alex when the pain was too much and more blood spilled out of the gaping wound.

"Dogs," they said slowly, like they were getting used to their voice. They gripped Alex around his shoulders for support and used their shotgun as a cane to further the walking help. Joshua slowly came over.

"Why do you have a gun?" he asked. The blonde looked at the teen.

"...Why not?" they said. Joshua furrowed his eyebrows at them. The blonde just shook his head and nodded towards the road. "There should be a- argh- clothes store," they bowed their head and breathed deeply, clutching the shotgun tight. They clutched Alex's coat, wrinkling it from their pained grip.

Alex looked at Joshua and nodded. "Let's go," he said. Joshua glanced at the blonde again before walking, taking the lead. Alex followed behind with the hobbling blonde.

The road was empty after the dog attack, by some god's assurance, because they didn't stand a chance with a cripple, and the clothing store soon came into view, the windows boarded up from the outside; it had probably shut down before... whatever was happening happened. It looked ancient- like all the other buildings, Alex finally thought. Joshua opened the glass front door for them, Alex bringing the blonde stranger inside. There was a dirty blanket on the floor and the blonde dropped down to lay on it. Joshua looked around the shop.

There were old, stained mannequins and empty cans of food on the floor beside the blanket. Some were old and rotten, others a little fresher. Joshua nudged one with the toe of his shoe and it rolled to hit his brother's boot. The man glanced at the young brunette before rolling his eyes and kneeling beside the wounded blonde. He reached out to touch their leg, but his hand was immediately slapped away, leaving the burning sting of a mother's hand when her son betrayed her. He looked at their face, their green eyes glaring at him.

"I'm trying to help," Alex said. The blonde shook their head and closed their eyes. They were quiet for a long moment before speaking in their soft voice.

"You can't do anything.." they said. Then they dropped an arm over their face. Joshua looked at his brother, worried.

"What do we do?" he asked quietly. Alex just stared at the blonde, trying to make sense of things.

"You were in the middle of the road earlier," he said. The blonde didn't reply. "Why?" They stayed silent.

Dropping down to sit on the floor, Joshua picked up an empty plastic bottle. It looked stained, like it had been in a dirty place. There was a label on it, though, so he read it. "What's a DX?"

"Dietary supplement. It just helps bleeding," the blonde said quietly.

"Then we should get some!"

The blonde gave a light, mocking laugh. "Good luck."

"Why?"

"There's monsters everywhere."

Alex narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean "monsters"? Those… dogs? What happened to them? And what happened to the time? It was two p.m.!"

The blonde moved their arm to look at him.

"There is no time here. ...You're in Hell."

Alex shook his head and grabbed Joshua by the arm. "Come on, we're going."

"But he needs help!"

"He doesn't want it, and he's crazy."

"Everyone here goes crazy at some point," the blonde said while watching them. "But you won't last a minute out there without me."

Alex scoffed. "Oh yeah? You can't even walk."

The blonde's face flushed. "That's because you two distracted me!"

"Alright then, what do you expect, stranger?"

The blonde sat up on the blanket with a wince and looked at the empty nutrition bottle Joshua held. He looked back at Alex. "...I need you to find me some nutrition supplements. Or we'll never last a day."


	2. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

The blonde panted quickly, eyes shut tight and struggling not to move while Alex put a compression on their wound. It consisted of some cloth he found in the shop. Joshua watched while standing, not knowing much of what to do. Alex pulled the cloth tight around the blonde's leg and Joshua watched them writhe in pain. Then Alex loosened the compression some so that the blood flow wouldn't be severed, and he looked at Joshua.

"I need a box or something to prop his leg up."

Joshua grabbed a mannequin and brought it over, laying it on its side. Its waist made a comfortable bend for the stranger's foot to rest on, and it was tall enough to keep the blonde's leg above his heart, which is what Alex said was important for blood flow.

Alex then looked at his brother as the wounded blonde calmed down, moaning at the discomfort. "If he starts bleeding through the cloth, put some more on. Make sure you can slip two fingers inside, don't do it too tight," he said to his brother. The teenager nodded. Then the man stood up. "I'm going now."

The wounded stranger pointed off to the counter and register of the shop. "The map's… over there."

Alex walked over to grab the map, and then he looked at his brother again. "I'll be back in a little bit." Joshua nodded hesitantly.

Turning away from the two, Alex left the shop back to the foggy outside. He opened the map to take a look at it.

They were at Andy's Shop on Simmons St., near the town hall. The stranger said for Alex to go to the Green Pharmacy on Koontz.  _"Do_ not _go to the hospital,"_  they had said. The pharmacy was right next to it, though.

Folding the map up again, Alex stuck it into his back pocket and started walking down the street. It would be a straight shot for two blocks and then a sharp right. He pulled out his knife for safety. The shotgun was left with Joshua and the blonde, in case they ran into any trouble. The blonde said that they wouldn't, though, as long as Alex was back before twenty minutes. They probably wouldn't last that long, so Alex would have to be back a lot sooner.

He continued walking to the pharmacy, making sure to walk slow and look around corners. He couldn't afford to get attacked by… whatever those things were.

The journey was empty. Alex made it to the pharmacy and tried to go inside, but the door was locked. He used the butt of his knife to break the glass of the door, and then he went inside after no alarm was heard. What sort of place was he planning to take his brother to? Did their dad really come here all of the time? There was no way.

" _Only supplements and first aid kits,"_  the blonde had said. Alex looked at the full shelves, of bagged dog food and some board games, and pointless medical things that they would never use, like women's menstrual things and stuff for UTI's. ...This was going to be harder than he thought.

Alex walked around the store for either things he needed, but when he found a landline, he picked up the phone and tried calling 911. It was just a dead tone.

Continuing his search, he found some snacks and put them in a plastic sack to carry. And then he found two supplement drinks. They were brown with green crosses on them, like the empty bottle Joshua had found. They were full and sloshed inside. Alex put them in the bag. He looked more for first aid kids, because he knew they would serve the wound better, but he couldn't find any at all. He left to head back to the clothes store.

While walking down the street to go back to his brother and the blonde stranger, he couldn't help but feel like there were things missing. What had  _happened_  to this place? When he looked it up online, it all seemed fine. Normal.  _Where were all of the people?_  What had happened to the dogs- what did that guy mean by "monsters"?

Up ahead, there was a dog. It seemed to be too far away from Alex to notice him, but he could see it clearly. It was walking to a… person? There was a person off in the distance, but the fog was too hazy for Alex to see that far.

The dog was going to attack them.

Alex gripped his knife tight and started running over. "Hey!" he called, to get the person's attention, but the dog was closer and heard him first. It turned on its hind legs and broke off into a run to Alex. The man stepped back to gain an advantage, and when the dog lept for him, it fell short. Alex slashed his knife through the air just as the dog tried jumping at him again and the blade cut right across the dog's face. The bloody canine whined in pain and Alex took the opportunity to assault it further. He slashed his blade across its revealed under flesh and stabbed it in the ribs. He pulled the blade out and stabbed the dog twice more before it gave a loud cry of pain and fell to the ground. Alex stared down at the dog.

It didn't even look real. It looked like a mutation- a thin layer of flesh covered its eyes, blinding it, and its tongue was sharp, rolled out of its mouth with a pool of blood. ...That guy was right. This really was a monster.

Alex looked back up and saw that the person was still standing off in the distance, walking slowly down the road. The ex-soldier flicked his knife of the dog's blood and started walking after the person.

"Hey!" he called, but they didn't look at him. "There are crazy things out here! You'll-" There was an overwhelming amount of smoke that caught Alex and he started coughing. It wasn't barbecue smoke or cigarette, it was… it was like burning tar- like someone set fire to a pile of tires. The closer he got to the person, the worse it got.

"Hey," he managed to call out again, "it's danger..." He stopped in his tracks as the person turned to face him. ...It wasn't a person. It was… something from a horror film. Whatever it was had slim legs that bucked underneath them with each step, the skinny limbs too weak to support the big torso that it had. Its ribcage was exposed and it didn't have arms, or a face. It took a step towards Alex, and the man took a step back in shock. What the hell was that thing?

Its ribcage suddenly opened up, revealing glowing, toxic lungs that grew big with air. Then Alex's eyes were blinded by a giant cloud of thick, black smoke. He went into an immediate coughing fit, gasping for air as he choked on the toxins. The smoke was in his lungs. It was like he were trapped in a fire. He stole a glance at the thing while coughing and saw that it was advancing on him. He quickly turned on his heel and started running in the opposite direction.

It was hard to run. It felt like he was running a marathon from all of the smoke clinging to his lungs. He almost tripped on the dog, but he jumped over it and continued running to the shop.

Something seemed to happen, because he could see a copious amount of foggy figures off in the town. He could hear dogs barking and howling. One seemed to start chasing him as soon as he was almost to the shop.

As much as this all seemed impossible, Alex reasoned that no matter what ever happened, dogs wouldn't be able to open doors. With that knowledge, he made it to the clothes shop and opened the door, getting inside and shutting it just as the dog jumped for him. It hit the door with a sick sound and Joshua looked over at Alex from where he sat beside their sleeping blonde savior. The teen's eyes widened.

"Why is there blood on you?" he asked. Alex shook his head and carried the sack over.

"I-" The ex-soldier broke into a fit of coughing and Joshua stood up to help, but there wasn't anything he could really do. Alex pointed at the blonde. "Wake him up," he rasped. Joshua looked at the blonde before dropping to his knees and nudging them to wake them up. Since they were hurt and losing blood, their reaction time was delayed, and they didn't wake for a moment. When they did, they looked up at Joshua before rolling their eyes to look at Alex. They started sitting up when they saw that Alex was coughing, trying to clear his throat of the thick smoke. Alex saw that they were up and came over with the bag, reaching inside to pull out the supplements. He cleared his throat.

"This is all I could find," he said. The blonde took one from Alex but left the other. He twisted the cap, breaking the seal, and then started drinking. He was done in a couple of gulps and he dropped to lay back down. He watched Alex with his bright green eyes.

"You can have that one," they said. Alex shook his head and held the other out, but the blonde didn't take it.

"You need it."

"You won't make it here being selfless," the blonde said. "Drink it."

Joshua looked at his brother. "...Maybe you should," he said. Alex gave him a disapproving look. The older brunette still opened the bottle though, and drank it. It tasted like medicine, not too great. It felt good going down his dry throat, though, and he could feel it clearing up his airway. He looked at the blonde.

"What is this?" He blinked in surprise at how clear his voice came out and looked at the bottle. The only thing on the label was the green cross. The blonde lifted his own bottle up to look at it.

"Not DX, but they all work the same. They just taste different."

"Can I try it?" Joshua asked his brother. The man held his bottle out to the teen, although it was almost gone. He had forgotten about Joshua's injured head and hoped it wasn't too bad. Joshua drank it and stuck out his tongue in disgust. Alex suppressed a laugh with a smirk. This wasn't the time to be laughing. He turned his attention back to the blonde stranger, who had just dropped his empty bottle on the floor. All of the trash was his, then. As expected. Seeing it, though, made Alex wonder how a beauty like him was so… rude. Of course, Alex could be rude at times too, but he knew manners. He was raised by Adam, anyway.

"Where are all of the people?" he asked them. "There was some…  _thing_  out there, and it absolutely was  _not_  human."

"I told you there were monsters, didn't I?"

"What do you mean "not human"?" Joshua asked his brother. The man shook his head.

"It was some… smoke-"

"That was a Smog," the blonde said. Alex furrowed his eyebrows.

"Smog?"

"That's what we call them."

"Who's "we"?"

The blonde shut their mouth like something had slipped, and Alex gave them a look. He repeated his question, to no response.

Joshua cleared his throat and watched the blonde. "...Who are you?" he asked. "Like… what are you doing here? That's my brother Alex-"

"Josh!"

"What? We have to introduce ourselves eventually."

The blonde watched them both with a judging expression before letting out a breath. "My friends call me Aid," he said.

"So you have friends here?" Alex asked.

"Oh. No, not here. ...I guess they  _used_  to."

"Where are they?" Joshua asked. The blonde squinted at him.

"Where do you think?"

"...Are they dead?"

"Joshua," Alex sounded. Aid didn't reply. He didn't say anything in response to the question. Alex pointed off at the door.

"What were you doing out there earlier? If you know there are… monsters?" he asked. Aid sat up on the blanket and started getting up. Alex and Joshua watched him limp off to the glass door and peek out. He wasn't crying out in pain like earlier, and he could actually use his leg. Barely. Were the drinks really that good? The blonde looked back at Alex and Joshua.

"...I'm looking for something. I'll help you two get out of here, but I need to find something."

Alex shook his head. "No. We came here for a reason."

Aid laughed. "Like what? You may have wanted to come to Silent Hill, but this is Hell."

"Where is everyone? What's going on here, just tell us that."

"...It's repentance. Everyone is here to repent."

Joshua looked at his older brother. "...Repent for what, Alex?"

"Nothing. I told you he was crazy."

Aid gave Alex a look. "Why would I lie?"

"Why won't you tell us the truth?"

"I am. ...You don't want to meet the…  _others_ , here."

"So there are people!"

"Only if you can call them that!" Aid huffed and walked back to the blanket to grab his shotgun. He was going to pick it up, but then he saw the bag Alex brought, with snacks. He pointed at it. "Where'd you get this?"

"The pharmacy."

The blonde sat back down and started pulling the food out of the bag. Joshua glanced at his brother before looking back at Aid as the blonde pulled open a small bag of "healthy" chips.

"...Are we not going yet?" Joshua asked. Aid looked at the teen before motioning for the teen to sit. He did, and Alex followed after a moment. The brothers watched the blonde eat for a while before Alex spoke up.

"What were you looking for earlier?" he asked. Aid looked at the man while eating, and Alex couldn't help but look at the blonde's pink, plump lips. He watched them form the words that Aid spoke next.

"I need batteries."

"For what?"

Aid paused, like he were thinking. He was deciding if he could trust the two or not. After a moment's deliberation, he put the bag of chips down and reached up to his hair, grabbing the fluffy blonde strands and tucking them behind his ears. Then he fidgeted with something in his ears and held his hands out to show Alex and Joshua what he held.

Hearing aids.

Alex furrowed his eyebrows. "You've been wandering around out there with  _hearing aids_?"

Aid didn't reply and Joshua pointed out to his brother, "I don't think he can hear you." Aid was looking down at his hands, looking at the hearing aids. They didn't look as old as the town, so they must be his personal ones. Their size, though, meant that it would probably be close to impossible to find the right batteries. Aid finally looked back up after a moment and Alex sighed.

"...How long have you been doing this? ...Living here, like this."

Aid seemed to have read his lips. "That doesn't matter," he replied. His voice sounded a little pitched, probably because he couldn't hear himself speak. He looked uncomfortable talking without hearing, and then he started putting the hearing aids back in. Joshua smiled.

"Is that why they called you Aid?" he asked. Aid rolled his eyes, but he didn't reply, so it was probably true. He grabbed the bag of chips and started rolling them up, for later.

"I'll help you two leave," he said, "But you'll need to help me to help you."

Alex shook his head. "I told you, we aren't leaving."

Aid gave him a dirty look. "If you stay here," he glanced at Joshua before looking back, "Then you'll kill your brother." Joshua looked at Alex, who glared.

"We can't go back. It's final."

"Then go somewhere else." Aid looked at Joshua. "Do you want to live here? Like me?" he asked the teen. The young brunette shook his head. Aid looked back at Alex. "This isn't a town. You just need to get out."

"And what about you? Why haven't you left?"

"...I need to repent."

"That's bullshit. You're hiding something."

"So are you. Everyone is. Why can't you go back home? Why are  _insisting_  on staying here?"

"Because we set out to move to Silent Hill, and that's what we're doing."

Aid shook his head and let out a breath of frustration. "You don't know what you're saying. ...I'll slow you down if we go out right now, so we'll rest for a bit."

Joshua nodded. "Okay," he said. He was dying with the need to sleep. So was Alex, but he still wanted to know what all was going on.

Joshua wasted no time grabbing some drapes from a rack and piling them onto the floor for a makeshift bed. Alex, on the other hand, just sat against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. Joshua laid down beside Aid, a good distance away to not be in his space. Aid looked at Alex, laying on his back so that he could keep his leg propped; to keep the throbbing pain of his wound at bay.

"Are you going to sleep?" he asked. Alex looked at him with his tired, stern soldier eyes.

"With those  _things_  out there?"

Aid rolled his eyes before closing them. "You don't even know the half of it."

"Just let him help us," Joshua said to his brother, laying on his side and watching the two. "We wouldn't even be here if you hadn't made it sound so… right," he grumbled. Alex narrowed his eyes at the teen.

"When you're running away, you don't want to go somewhere that you'll be found."

"You came here to hide?" Aid asked, a smirk on his lips at the humor of it. "You did a good job there. No one will find you here."

"I can't believe you're the only one here," Alex murmured. Aid opened his eyes to look at the man, furrowing his eyebrows.

"I'm not."

Joshua propped himself up on an elbow. "Then why aren't there other people?"

Aid watched Joshua for a moment before shaking his head. He reached up to his hearing aids and turned them off, and then he closed his eyes. Joshua looked at Alex, who pointed.

"Get some sleep. I mean it."

Joshua rolled the other way and Alex couldn't tell if he closed his eyes or not, but he assumed that the teen's sleepiness would win over his stubbornness.

Alex looked at the things in the room while sitting against the wall; the mannequins, all of the old trash, the age of the building. Something really was wrong here. There was no way Adam used to come here. Now the question was, why was  _Aid_  here? And where were the people he mentioned?

**Author's Note:**

> If you noticed a change of tone midway, it's because this was originally going to be Josh/Alex, but I decided to do Alex/OC.
> 
> Please tell me if you liked it and want more! Thanks for reading.


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